Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 109 § 109.072 — Petition to vacate or set aside parentage determination

Petition to vacate or set aside parentage determination. (1) As used in this section: (a)(A) “Parentage judgment” means a judgment or administrative order that: (i) Expressly or by inference determines the parentage of a child, or that imposes a child support obligation based on the parentage of a child; and (ii) Resulted from a proceeding in which genetic testing was not performed and the issue of parentage was not challenged. (B) “Parentage judgment” does not include a judgment or administrative order that determines parentage of a child conceived by assisted reproduction. (b) “Petition” means a petition or motion filed under this section. (c) “Petitioner” means the person filing a petition or motion under this section. (2)(a) The following may file in circuit court a petition to vacate or set aside the parentage determination of a parentage judgment, including any child support obligations established in the parentage judgment, and for a judgment of nonparentage: (A) A party to the parentage judgment. (B) The Department of Human Services if the child is in the care and custody of the Department of Human Services under ORS chapter 419B. (C) The Division of Child Support of the Department of Justice if the child support rights of the child or of one of the parties to the parentage judgment have been assigned to the state. (b) The petitioner may file the petition in the circuit court proceeding in which the parentage judgment was entered, in a related proceeding or in a separate action. The petitioner shall attach a copy of the parentage judgment to the petition. (c) If the ground for the petition is that the parentage determination was obtained by or was the result of mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect, the petitioner may not file the petition more than one year after entry of the parentage judgment. (d) If the ground for the petition is that the parentage determination was obtained by or was the result of fraud, misrepresentation or other misconduct of an adverse party, the petitioner may not file the petition more than one year after the petitioner discovers the fraud, misrepresentation or other misconduct. (3) In the petition, the petitioner shall: (a) Designate as parties: (A) All persons who were parties to the parentage judgment; (B) The child if the child is a child attending school, as defined in ORS 107.108; (C) The Department of Human Services if the child is in the care and custody of the Department of Human Services under ORS chapter 419B; and (D) The Administrator of the Division of Child Support of the Department of Justice if the child support rights of the child or of one of the parties to the parentage judgment have been assigned to the state. (b) Provide the full name and date of birth of the child whose parentage was determined by the parentage judgment. (c) Allege the facts and circumstances that resulted in the entry of the parentage judgment and explain why the issue of parentage was not contested. (4) After filing a petition under this section, the petitioner shall serve a summons and a true copy of the petition on all parties as provided in ORCP 7. (5) The court, on its own motion or on the motion of a party, may appoint counsel for the child. However, if requested to do so by the child, the court shall appoint counsel for the child. A reasonable fee for an attorney so appointed may be charged against one or more of the parties or as a cost in the proceeding, but may not be charged against funds appropriated for public defense services. (6) The court may order the parent who gave birth to the child, the child and the person whose parentage of the child was determined by the parentage judgment to submit to genetic testing. In deciding whether to order genetic testing, the court shall consider the interests of the parties and the child and, if it is just and equitable to do so, may deny a request for genetic testing. If the court orders genetic testing under this subsection, the court shall order the petitioner to pay the costs of the genetic testing. (7) Unless the court finds, giving consideration to the interests of the parties and the child, that to do so would be substantially inequitable, the court shall vacate or set aside the parentage determination of the parentage judgment, including provisions imposing child support obligations, and enter a judgment of nonparentage if the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that: (a) The parentage determination was obtained by or was the result of: (A) Mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect; or (B) Fraud, misrepresentation or other misconduct of an adverse party; (b) The mistake, inadvertence, surprise, excusable neglect, fraud, misrepresentation or other misconduct was discovered by the petitioner after the entry of the parentage judgment; and (c)(A) Genetic testing establishes that the person is not the genetic parent of the chi